A Clinical Analysis of 640 Inpatients With Pathologic Nipple Discharge

Objective To discuss the value of early confirmation of breast cancer in patients with pathologic nipple discharge based on double surgical indications under fiberoptic ductoscopy (FDS) followed by staining with methylene blue. Methods From October 2012 to October 2019, a total of 640 inpatients with pathologic nipple discharge from Wuhan University Zhongnan Hospital underwent fiberoptic ductoscopy, followed by injection of methylene blue into the lesional duct through the discharged hole that would be resected as a segment according to the range of the staining duct on the next day. Based on double surgical indications, different findings by fiberoptic ductoscopy were defined as surgical indications, both with space-occupying intraductal lesions scanned by FDS and without space-occupying intraductal lesions but with dark red bloody fluid or yellow serous fluid spillage at the opening of the terminal mammary duct or extensive erosive duct lesions. We retrospectively analyzed the relations between results from fiberoptic ductoscopy and pathologic diagnosis. Results Inpatients with pathological neoplasm accounted for 87.3%(452/518) of the 518 inpatients with space-occupying intraductal lesions scanned by FDS, but the 122 inpatients without space-occupying intraductal lesions only accounted for 28.7%(35/122) of the patients (P=0.00). However, patients pathologically diagnosed with breast cancer accounted for 11.8% (61/518) of the 518 inpatients with space-occupying lesions and 10.7%(13/122) of the 122 inpatients without space-occupying lesions (P=0.728). Conclusions According to the double standards of surgical indication with or without space-occupying intraductal lesions scanned by fiberoptic ductoscopy, the method of fiberoptic ductoscopy followed by staining of the mammary duct by methylene blue could not only avoid missed diagnosis of breast cancer caused by ductoscopy itself, but also reduce the rate of missed diagnosis on account of inoperative inaccurate resection range, which greatly improved the early diagnosis rate of breast cancer with nipple discharge as the only initial clinical manifestation.